“It should be a compulsory part of a trainee journalist’s education because people mislead all the time with numbers, or mislead themselves with numbers”
Words, not data, make a story. Your analysis will shape the story; it might be the foundation for the story. But the numbers without context are not a story.
Journalists need to be able to present numerical information in simple, straightforward ways so the public can understand how certain changes will or could impact them.
Do some calculations: Numbers every writer should know: Mean, median and mode; percent; percent change; rate For more advanced math for journalists
Choose numbers wisely. When you do use a figure in a story, make sure it’s important. Don’t overwhelm with numbers.
Round off and substitute. Economists and financial experts need exact numbers. Readers don’t. So you can say “nearly doubled” or “about one-third” and remain accurate as well as understandable.
Pepper your story with just the right number in just the right place rather than cramming them all together. Use an anecdote, quote or observation to separate paragraphs with lots of numbers.
Don’t hype or manipulate numbers for effect. An example
So let’s make a list:
1.What do just the numbers tell us here? Write me a lead sentence that contains NO numbers.
2.What calculations should we do? What do they tell us?
COM252: Writing for the Mass Media 